Michael Gilling, H3’s Event Delivery Manager, was crowned ‘Leader of the Year’ at the 2022 Entertainment Venues Association of New Zealand (EVANZ) Awards in Wellington on Tuesday night.

Gilling, who is responsible for overseeing the delivery of all events across Claudelands, FMG Stadium Waikato and Seddon Park, was praised by the judges for his “positive, problem solving, supportive and collaborative leadership style” which they said made him an “excellent candidate for this award”.

Gilling has been part of the H3 team since 2011 and previously held the role of Event Manager – Arena before being promoted into the newly established Event Delivery Manager role earlier this year. In this role he is tasked with leading H3’s event delivery teams and ensuring events are presented to a consistently high standard across all venues and event types including performances, sporting events, exhibitions, markets, conferences and functions.

Hamilton City Council’s General Manager of Venues, Tourism and Major Events, Sean Murray says Gilling is an extremely worthy recipient of this award.

“Michael has had a long and varied career in events and is incredibly well respected, not only within H3 and Hamilton, but throughout the wider industry. We count ourselves very lucky to have Michael in our team to pass his knowledge on others and help guide the next generation of event professionals who are starting out in this business,” he says.

“Our clients and eventgoers get to reap the benefit of having Michael’s skills and experience here in Hamilton. Every event he helps to deliver to an exceptional standard is a victory for our city, so it’s fantastic that his efforts and influence have been celebrated by the industry.”

The other finalists in the EVANZ Leader of the Year category were Nick Sautner from Auckland’s The Eden Park Trust and Jason Wade from Hamilton’s Clarence Street Theatre.

Also recognised at last night’s EVANZ Awards was Elly Moody, H3’s Event Manager – Arena, who was a finalist in the Rising Star of the Year category alongside Milly Thurlow from Nelson’s The Trafalgar Centre and Finn McLennan-Elliott from Auckland’s The Tuning Fork, with McLennan-Elliott taking out the win.

“While Elly didn’t win her category, we are incredibly proud that she was recognised as a ‘Rising Star of the Year’ finalist. Elly has made a significant impact on our business in a relatively short amount of time and proven to be an invaluable member of our team, and it’s clear she has a very bright future ahead of her,” says Murray.